- www.wjla.com March 20, 2010

WASHINGTON – A photograph of two men kissing that ran on the front page of The Washington Post has caused at least two dozen people to cancel their subscriptions.
The photo was taken last Wednesday, the day same-sex couples could apply for marriage licenses in Washington, and ran in the paper the next day. The paper’s ombudsman, Andrew Alexander, reported on his blog that 27 subscribers canceled their subscriptions, specifically citing the photo.

He wrote that while complaints usually subside quickly, in this case complaints lasted through Tuesday.

Readers suggested that the photo should have been placed in the paper’s Metro section or not run at all. Alexander disagreed and defended the paper’s decision to run the photo prominently.

By Elizabeth Benjamin, www.nydailynews.com March 10, 2010

Fight Back NY, the new LGBT-funded political action committee that is targeting senators who helped defeat the gay marriage bill last year, has released a new Web video starring “Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon.

“I’m supporting Fight Back New York so we can finally show these anti-equality senators that there are consequences to their actions,” Nixon says.

“That they can lose their seats for voting against our rights. Fight Back New York is smart, strategic political action committee with the sole purpose of defeating senators who voted ‘no’ on equality.”

In the video, Nixon also discusses how she is “not OK” with the fact that she isn’t legally able to marry her fiancée, Christine Marinoni, to whom she announced her engagement at a marriage equality rally last May.

Nixon and Marinoni traveled to Albany last summer to lobby the Legislature on marriage. They were joined in their efforts by Valerie Berlin, whose firm, BerlinRosen, is repping Fight Back NY, and her partner, Amy Rutkin.

Fight Back NY’s first target is Hiram Monserrate, who enraged the LGBT community by joining seven fellow Democrats in voting “no” on marriage last December. Marriage advocates considered this a betrayal, insisting Monserrate had pledged to vote “yes” back when he was running unopposed for the seat vacated by ex-Sen. John Sabini.

Read more:

To see Cynthia Nison’s PSA, click here

- AP 3/9/2010

High school senior Constance McMillen knows the rule: no same-sex date at the senior prom.

But the 18-year-old lesbian student is challenging the Itawamba County school district policy, saying she is worried she’ll end up missing the last major social occasion of her school years.

“The way I look at it is that if I can’t go and be who I am, then I don’t want to go. It kind of feels like they’re asking me to be straight for the prom,” McMillen said.

She has enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union that says the district has refused to let McMillen and her girlfriend arrive as a couple at the April 2 prom. District officials also denied McMillen’s request to wear a tuxedo.

Superintendent Teresa McNeece and Michele Floyd, the school district’s attorney, haven’t returned calls left at their offices by The Associated Press.

The ACLU has given the district until Wednesday to change its policies. Attorneys say McMillen has a constitutional right to have the same privileges as her fellow, straight students, and that the way she dresses falls under her right of free expression.

“The law is clear that school districts can’t treat students differently just because they are uncomfortable with the topic of gay rights or the presence of gay students,” said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel for the national ACLU.

Sun said the ACLU receives up to 10 complaints a year from gay and lesbian students who feel they’ve been discriminated against. The issue is now a topic on Capitol Hill. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., has introduced federal legislation making discrimination in schools based on sexual orientation illegal.

Last October, the ACLU sent a demand letter to the school district in Copiah County after officials refused to let 17-year-old Ceara Sturgis be photographed in a tuxedo for the yearbook. The district stood by its decision and the ACLU said it’s still considering litigation.

A Feb. 5 memo to the Itawamba County high school students laid out the criteria for bringing a date to the prom, and one requirement was that the person must be of the opposite sex.

The ACLU said school officials told McMillen that she and her girlfriend, who is also a student, could be asked to leave the prom if people complained about them being there.

“If we’re slow-dancing or something and it makes somebody uncomfortable, we can get kicked out,” McMillen said. “We do live in the Bible belt. There are a few people who are uncomfortable with (gay relationships).”

McMillen’s school is located in Itawamba County in northern Mississippi, and borders Pontotoc County, where a federal lawsuit ended another school’s practice of student-led intercom prayers and Southern Baptist doctrine Bible classes more than a decade ago.

Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based Christian legal group, has offered free assistance to the school district. The district hasn’t responded to the offer, said Steve Crampton, an attorney with Liberty Counsel. Crampton said his group was contacted by some local residents.

“We have a general interest in protecting a school district’s right to police and regulate dress code and school events, such as proms,” Crampton said. “In all candor, while we know nothing about the complaining student here, we believe this is part of a larger agenda to implement homosexual rights in the schools.”

Sun said if the district doesn’t respond by Wednesday, the ACLU will consider litigation but was hopeful the issue could be resolved informally like a similar case in Alabama.

In November, officials at Tharptown High School in Franklin County, Ala., reversed an earlier decision to bar a lesbian from attending the prom with a female date. After the ACLU issued a demand letter, the decision was reversed, said Gary Smith, superintendent of Franklin County Schools.

“The ACLU told us we were infringing on her rights as a student. In view of that, we had to let her bring her,” Smith said Tuesday.

Original Story (and Video!) from CNN.com

A lesbian couple together for more than a decade smiled through tears Tuesday as they became the first same-sex couple to marry in the District of Columbia, on the first day such unions are legal in the nation’s capital.

Sinjoyla Townsend and Angelisa Young said they had waited years to marry. They were first in line last week to apply for a marriage license at Washington’s marriage bureau.

“You are my friend, my partner, my love,” Young, 47, told Townsend, 41. “I will love you today, tomorrow and forever.”

After the wedding, those present cheered as the two women embraced and cried. They have been together for 12 years and have children, according to biographical information released by the Human Rights Campaign and D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality.

The new law survived a Supreme Court challenge. The measure went into effect last week, but couples had to hold off until Tuesday because of the district’s three-day waiting period.

“We’re very excited,” Townsend said last week. She and Young were among 100 couples applying for licenses.

Share your thoughts on same-sex marriage

The district joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont in allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Mayor Adrian Fenty signed the Washington measure into law in December after the city council overwhelming passed it. It then went through a review period, during which Congress had an opportunity to intervene.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a request from a group of Washington residents to keep the law from going into effect. Local courts had previously turned down lawsuits to block it.

Opponents of the law say city residents should have had a chance to vote on the issue before the city council passed it. They hope to force a ballot initiative to overturn the law.

Also among the first couples to marry Tuesday were Reggie Stanley and Rocky Galloway, both 50. The couple have two daughters, Malena and Zoe Stanley-Galloway, each 15 months old, according to the biographical information released by the equality groups.

Also married on Tuesday were the Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, 61, and the Rev. Lorilyn Candy Holmes, 53, of Laurel, Maryland. Both of them serve in leadership roles in the Metropolitan Community Church. The women are mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, according to the groups.

During Garner and Holmes’ ceremony, a representative from their families read a statement blessing the marriage.

Original Article By Ruth Schneider, 365gay.com
03.09.2010

Ousted New York state senator Hiram Monserrate’s supporters’ new campaign ploy is raising the ire of activists across New York City.

Fans of the embattled lawmaker, who was kicked out the Senate last month after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend, are distributing fliers Queens area churches calling his Democratic rival Assemblyman Jose Peralta a pawn of “mega-rich gay fanatics.”

The flier claims Peralta is the “leading spokesperson for the gay community’s [sic] in N.Y.C.” and added those groups “are dedicated to destroying our way of life and creating same sex marriage.” The flier also referred to Peralta as “the gay caballero.”

In a statement, Peralta, who is a gay rights supporter and is endorsed by several state gay rights group, said “This flier is just another example of how Hiram Monserrate thrives on bullying and hate-mongering,” according to the New York Daily News.

Monserrate was targeted by gay rights groups for his no vote on marriage equality. “With each hate-mongering, fear-rattling, equality-stunting volley, Hiram Monserrate digs another foot down into his political grave, said Valerie Berlin, a spokeswoman for Fight Back New York, told the Daily News.

Original Article from www.foxnews.com March 8th, 2010

A California state senator who reportedly has voted against every gay rights measure since he took office eight years ago was charged with driving under the influence on Wednesday, reportedly after leaving a gay nightclub in Sacramento.

Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, was spotted driving erratically at about 2 a.m. Wednesday in downtown Sacramento, officials said. He was arrested after taking a sobriety test, and he was taken to Sacramento County Jail, where he was administered a blood-alcohol test prior to being booked and released.

He was charged with two misdemeanors: driving under the influence and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher.

Ashburn, a 55-year-old father of four, apologized for his actions.

“I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment,” he said in a statement. “I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did. I am also truly sorry for the impact this incident will have on those who support and trust me — my family, my constituents, my friends, and my colleagues in the Senate.”

He was arrested after leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento, according to cbs13.com. A male passenger, who was not identified as a lawmaker, was also in the car but was not detained, the TV station reported.

A spokesman for Ashburn declined to comment to FoxNews.com regarding the nightclub allegations.

Ashburn, who served in the state Assembly from 1996 to 2002 before he was elected to the Senate, has voted against every gay rights measure since he became a senator, according to Project Vote Smart, a Web site that tracks voting records.

Via 365gay.com By The Associated Press
03.08.2010

(Washington) The time has come to change a policy that imposes a lifetime ban on donating blood for any man who has had gay sex since 1977, 18 senators said Thursday.

“Not a single piece of scientific evidence supports the ban,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who joined 16 other Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in writing Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

The lawmakers stressed that the science has changed dramatically since the ban was established in 1983 at the advent of the HIV-AIDS crisis. Today donated blood must undergo two different, highly accurate tests that make the risk of tainted blood entering the blood supply virtually zero, they said.

The senators said that while hospitals and emergency rooms are in urgent need of blood products, “healthy blood donors are turned away every day due to an antiquated policy and our blood supply is not necessarily any safer for it.”

Brian Moulton, chief legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign,the nation’s largest gay rights group, said they are hopeful that the policy, last reviewed in 2006, will change under President Barack Obama, “who is interested in looking at all the policies that have a discriminatory effect.” The goal, he said, is “to have policies in place that are based on the science” rather than “any discriminatory idea about our community.”

The senators’ letter noted that in March 2006, the American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers and the American Association of Blood Banks reported to an FDA-sponsored workshop that the ban “is medically and scientifically unwarranted.”

The FDA, in a statement, said that “while FDA appreciates concerns about perceived discrimination, our decision to maintain the deferral policy is based on current science and data and does not give weight to a donor’s sexual orientation.”

It said that while some groups favor relaxing restrictions, others, “such as those representing the hemophilia community, support continuation of the current policy.”

People with hemophilia, a bleeding disorder, require periodic transfusions and in the past, before screening techniques were improved to ensure blood was HIV-free, were among those most at risk of contracting the virus.

Kerry compared the effort to lift the blood donation ban to legislation he backed in 2008 to end the law banning people with HIV from traveling and immigrating to the United States. That ban was lifted last year.

Also signing the letter were Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Dick Durbin and Roland Burris of Illinois, Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado, Al Franken of Minnesota, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Carl Levin of Michigan, Tom Harkin of Iowa, and Mark Begich of Alaska.

- Empowering Spirits Foundation Notes
March 8, 2010

A Catholic school in Boulder is kicking out one of its preschoolers because the child’s parents are gay. The decision has sparked intense debate in the community and beyond.

The child has been denied re-enrollment in kindergarten next year because the parents are lesbians. Many feel that to place a preschooler in the middle of a fight about religion and sexuality is just simply wrong and against the teachings of Jesus.

Demonstrators protested the decision at a Sunday Mass. Many stood in silent protest and others held signs. One banner read “Teach acceptance. Celebrate all of God’s children.”

According to a statement released by the Denver archdiocese:

“To preserve the mission of our schools, and to respect the faith of wider Catholic community, we expect all families who enroll students to live in accord with Catholic teaching. Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrollment.”

Many have been vocal in the apparent double standard this decision seems to show. Some of the tenets of the faith are rooted in teaching acceptance and tolerance, however this issue seems to go against those fundamentals.

Some Catholic religious experts said the decision is marred the church is singling out these women and their child.

The church pastor, Rev. Bill Breslin, addressed the issue in his sermon on Sunday. He also posted his comments on his blog.

“If a child of gay parents comes to our school, and we teach that gay marriage is against the will of God, then the child will think that we are saying their parents are bad.”

He went on to say, “We don’t want to put any child in that tough position.”

According to school officials, questions about sexual orientation are not specifically asked during enrollment, however once administrators found out they made a decision to let the student finish out the year.

- SDGLN Staff March 3, 2010

WASHINGTON – Grassroots activists will gather on Capitol Hill on Thursday to highlight the growing support for the repeal of the military’s controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.

More than 300 people are expected to attend the press conference at noon at the House of Representatives Triangle.

Speakers will include:

_ U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, an Iraq veteran and lead sponsor of the bill to repeal DADT.

_ Eric Alva, a former Marine staff sergeant who was the first U.S. soldier wounded in the Iraq and is now a spokesman on DADT for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

_ Kayla Williams, a straight OIF veteran and former Army Arabic linguist who is the author of the “Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army.”

_ Jarrod Chlapowski, a former U.S. Army Korean linguist who opted to not re-enlist because of DADT and is a public policy advocate for HRC.

_ Joe Solmonese, president of Human Rights Campaign.

Murphy, a former paratrooper in the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, is the lead sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (HR 1283), the House bill to repeal the DADT law. Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced a Senate bill to repeal DADT earlier today.

More than 13,500 Americans have been denied the ability to serve – including more than 800 specialists with vital skills such as Arabic linguists.

Military leaders, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, recognize that DADT is a failed law and support its repeal. Dick Cheney, former vice president and former defense secretary, recently came out for repeal by stating, “When the chiefs come forward and say, ‘We think we can do it,’ then it strikes me as it’s time to reconsider the policy, and I think Adm. Mullen said that.”

The event is timed with HRC’s annual spring Lobby Day.

Last week, HRC launched a national action alert and announced details of its ongoing campaign to repeal the law that hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers fighting overseas at risk. Focusing on key states where congressional support for repeal is critical, HRC dispatched field staff to five states – Florida, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia, with other states to follow in the months ahead.

HRC is also asking members and supporters to sign up and to join the growing network of supporters to repeal DADT. To learn more, visit www.hrc.org/RepealDADT.

- Empowering Spirits Foundation, March 4, 2010

Couples waited in line for hours Wednesday to apply for marriage licenses on the first day same-sex unions became legal in the nation’s capital.

Cheering erupted from the crowd when the first couple signed in at the city’s marriage bureau inside the Moultrie courthouse, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. By the afternoon, more than 100 couples had come to the bureau, and more than 50 had completed their applications. The rest stood in line in the courthouse corridor, checking e-mail, reading newspapers and exchanging stories with other couples.

Because of a mandatory waiting period of three business days, couples won’t be able to marry in the District of Columbia until Tuesday. But the mood Wednesday was still celebratory. Couples got cupcakes from a city councilman who sponsored the gay marriage law, and throughout the morning, people applauded as they exited the marriage bureau with their applications complete.

Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, and her partner of 12 years, Angelisa Young, 47, claimed the first spot in line just after 6 a.m. They are already domestic partners in the city but wanted to become legally married.

“It’s like waking up Christmas morning,” said Young, who teared up when she sat down to process their paperwork. “It’s really like a dream come true.”

Most couples applying for licenses were from the district and nearby Maryland and Virginia, but one couple had gotten on the road at 4 a.m. to drive from West Virginia. Many said they had already had marriage ceremonies — some years ago — but wanted marriage certificates. And they said they attached special importance to being at the courthouse on the first day.

“This shows that there’s a buildup, waiting for this to happen,” said Christopher Grieder, 46, of Herndon, Va., who has been with Stuart Kopperman, 53, for 14 years and is planning an April 3 wedding.

Others said they felt an urgency to get married while they can. Eva Townsend and Shana McDavis-Conway had a wedding in St. Croix in 2008 and are registered domestic partners.

But McDavis-Conway is from California, where same-sex marriages were legal for a time before voters decided to ban them. She said she wanted to get married now in Washington in case something similar happens there.

Townsend and McDavis-Conway planned to go in late to work, though other people in line said they had taken the day off. Couples spent the time talking to their neighbors in line and relating their love stories. One couple met online on a Star Trek fan film site, another dancing at a country and western bar.

Emma White, 30, and Stephanie White, 40, met volunteering on Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign and had a wedding ceremony in 2006. Emma is pregnant with a baby due in April. The couple — No. 58 in line — said they wouldn’t do another big wedding because they had already been married.

Stephanie White said the government was “just “catching up” to what had already happened, though it makes her feel “a little more secure” to have a marriage license.

Washington is the sixth place in the nation where gay marriages can take place. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue licenses to same-sex couples.

To prepare for Wednesday, the marriage bureau changed its license applications so they are gender-neutral, asking for the name of each “spouse” rather than the “bride” and “groom.” The bureau also brought in temporary employees to help its regular staff.

“Everybody who wants a marriage license is going to get one. It may take a little longer, but they will get their license,” courthouse spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz said.

Normally, the bureau handles just 10 applications a day. Two heterosexual couples did show up Wednesday morning. Matt Lawson, 30, and Christine Vander Molen, 27, said they learned last night that they could expect a crowd at the marriage bureau on the historic day. But they are getting married next weekend and couldn’t wait any longer to apply for a license. Vander Molen said she didn’t mind being the “odd couple out” and found it funny when one person looked at them quizzically and asked, “You two are getting married to each other?”

The gay marriage law was introduced in the 13-member D.C. Council in October and had near-unanimous support from the beginning. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed it in December, but because Washington is a federal district, the law had to undergo a congressional review period that expired March 2.

Opponents, however, are still attempting to overturn the bill in court. That worries Eric North and Tom French, both 45, who were waiting in line Wednesday at the courthouse.

“We want to get in when we can,” French said.

“I want to be able to say I’m married,” North added.